Belief and self-confidence are two important attributes of successful people. Self-belief is about trusting yourself to achieve the realistic and achievable goals that you set yourself. Judging yourself to be capable of success will increase your chances of success. Believe you can and you probably will achieve your goals, but you must stretch yourself and it is a rock-solid self-belief that will drive you to achieve far greater than you ever thought possible. Henry Ford was so right when he said: Whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, either way, you are probably right.
We can all be guilty of undervaluing our real worth as we may entertain negative thoughts about ourselves. Our self-belief determines our self-worth and we need to understand that our worth is usually considerably greater than we perceive. We all need to take note of what an unknown author once wrote: If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. It is genuine and unshakable self-belief that will propel us along the road to success but there are other qualities needed to stay on that path and to change dreams to reality. Here are some of the necessary traits for success:
- Challenge yourself. Set a small number of realistic goals which will stretch you. Too often we set the target too low because we underestimate our real worth. If you do not challenge yourself you will never realise what you can become. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be-Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- Stop feeling inferior. If you have real and genuine self-belief then you are truly your own best friend. In our interaction with others, whether socially or in a work environment, we can sometimes engage with people who can make us feel inferior. If this has happened to you then take heed of what Eleanor Roosevelt once said: Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Rock-solid self-belief is your best defense in all such cases.
- Stay positive. The choice is yours – grow with positivity, or wither with negativity. A positive attitude is a key to success in life. Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow – according to Helen Keller, who wrote 14 books, though deaf and blind.
- Face up to roadblocks. We will have challenges and disappointments in our lives. It is not the challenges that undermine us: rather, it is how we react to them. See them as learning opportunities and they are necessary if we are to build our levels of resilience. There is no education like adversity – Benjamin Disraeli.
- Don’t fear failure. Learn from failures by modifying and improving the way you approach a challenge. We can fear failure but we can also fear success. Fear of both can become an excuse not to perform. Failure is not the opposite of success, it is part of success. Every mistake teaches us something. Persistence can overcome failure. It was the actor Mickey Rooney who said; You always pass failure on your way to success.
- Character is a choice. Everything in your life reflects choices and we can all develop stronger character. It’s not what we achieve in life, but what we overcome. Overcome, fears, prevarication, doubt, and toughen up. It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves – Edmund Hillary
- Belief comes before performance. Believe in yourself and others will too. In order to succeed in life, you must first believe you can. In the words of Walt Disney: If you can dream it, you can do it.
- Change attitude to change direction. For success, attitude is as important as ability. It is only a positive attitude that leads to success. A bad attitude goes nowhere. Those with a positive mental attitude are most likely to achieve favourable outcomes. Success is a mindset. No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit – Helen Keller.
- Commit to succeed. Commitment will not guarantee success but if there is no sustained commitment there will be no real success. Commitment separates doers from dreamers. Without it, nothing happens-no commitment, no success. Determination and commitment will enable you to achieve the success you seek. Commitment is an act, not a word – Jean-Paul Satre.
- Build resilience to stay the course. Bouncing back from adversity is what distinguishes those who succeed. Forget self-pity or blaming others for your perceived misfortune. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts – Winston Churchill.
At the core of all of these traits is a powerful self-belief which, in turn, determines how the world is viewed. Life is full of opportunities if we are open to finding them. Albert Einstein tells us; In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity. You can build a better future when you imagine a better future and build your personal attributes for success. Mahatma Gandhi was correct when he said; The future depends on what you do in the present. You can enable a better future when you believe you can. The future starts today, not tomorrow – Pope John Paul 11.
(Feature photo by Alysha Rosly on Unsplash).